Thomas E. Zurawick

THOMAS E. ZURAWICK - 83 CANFIELD - entered eternal life on December 16, 2018, surrounded by family, while residing at Hospice of the Valley. Tom, also known as "Grandpa" and "Yo-Yo" by his beloved grandchildren and "The Nutcracker Man" by many, was born June 9, 1935 in Girard, Ohio, son of John and Mildred (Delon) Zurawick. A 1953 Graduate of Girard High School, Tom was a member of the 1953 state finalist basketball team and was named to the Steel Valley Conference All Star Team. He was a Korean-era war veteran of the U.S. Army 69th Signal Battalion where he served as a Field Radio Repairman. He graduated from Youngstown State University in 1959 with a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering. After graduation, Tom was employed by U.S. Steel Corp, where he worked as an electrical and construction engineer before the closing of the Youngstown and McDonald plants in 1980. He then became a project engineer with the U.S. Steel Realty Development Group where he was instrumental in redeveloping closed facilities into industrial parks at McDonald, Youngstown, Canton Roll & Machine, Central Furnace and Cuyahoga Works and U.S. Steel Chemicals in Swanton - all in Ohio, as well as the transformation of the Ellwood City and American Bridge Facilities in Pennsylvania. In 1996, after 36 years with U.S. Steel, Tom retired, and until recently, consulted for the company and was a keynote speaker at many civic events, educating the public on the history of steel in the area. Some of his contributions can be seen at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry & Labor, where he fostered a partnership between U.S. Steel and the museum. In addition, Tom was a registered professional engineer in Ohio and was an instructor at Youngstown State University and the Mahoning County Joint Vocational School. Civically, he served as a member of the Canfield Board of Education and was a President of the Canfield Lions Club, where he served and led numerous committees during his 40 year membership, receiving the Melvin E. Jones Fellowship Award for dedicated humanitarian services. Artistically, Tom was a well-known craftsman of old German Black Forest style wooden nutcrackers and was the annually featured artist of the Nutcracker Suites Craft Show in Aurora, Ohio for many years, where his skill and dedication to the craft kept the tradition alive for future generations to enjoy Tom is survived by his wife Valorie (Marks) Zurawick, whom he married at St. Michael Church in 1967; a daughter Laurel, and her husband Michael Pecoraro and his granddaughter Amelia and step-grandchildren, Brittney (Pecoraro) Kash and family, all of Cleveland; as well as a son, Paul, and his wife, Letitia (Acox) Zurawick and grandsons Steven and Alexander of Granville, Ohio. He is also survived by his sister Dolores Marks of Masury, Ohio and was preceded in death by his parents and brother Eugene Zurawick. In celebration of Tom's life, a mass of Christian burial will be held on December 21, 2018 at St. Michael Church in Canfield. The family will receive family and friends at the church beginning at 9:00am with mass at 11:00am and burial rite following. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to the LION Thomas E. Zurawick Memorial Engineering Scholarship. Canfield Board of Education, 100 Wadsworth St., Canfield, OH 44406